For many salaried employees, changing jobs often involves a familiar routine: transferring the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account or withdrawing the accumulated EPF balance before moving to a new employer.Once the money reaches the bank account, most assume the process is complete. What is often ignored is the EPS contribution which is crucial for get pension under the EPS 95 scheme.Retirement experts say there is another equally important step that many employees overlook which is transferring their Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) service history.This becomes especially important for employees who have withdrawn their entire EPF balance from the EPF account associated with the last organization they worked in and believe there is nothing left to transfer.The reality is that even if the EPF balance is zero, you still have to transfer the EPS service record from that job to the account with your new employer. If you skip this step, it could leave gaps in your pensionable service period and might impact how much monthly pension you get after you retire.Why EPS service history matters even when your EPF balance is zeroWhile both EPF and EPS operate under the same PF account, they serve very different purposes.EPF functions as a retirement savings account where contributions accumulate over time and can be withdrawn under certain conditions. EPS, on the other hand, is a pension scheme that tracks an employee's years of eligible service and determines future pension benefits. Pensionable service period is an important factor that decides how much pension you will get. The higher the period is, the greater your pension will be. “When you withdraw your EPF balance, only the savings component is paid out. The EPS service record remains attached to the old member ID and must be separately transferred,” according to Nikunj Saraf, CEO, Choice Wealth. If it is not, those years of service become disconnected from the active pension account and go uncounted in the final pension calculation, he explains.How ignoring EPS transfers can cost you your future pensionThe consequences of ignoring EPS transfers can be far more serious than many employees realise.ET Online